Scent of a Rose
by whiterice-party
Summary: Shibuya Psychic Research begins investigation on what initially seems to be a standard case. However, when a strange shadow covers the house in question and Mai's dreams are no longer safe, the atmosphere suddenly turns to one of terror. Along with SPR, Naru and Mai must work quickly to figure out a solution. But how does one fight a dream monster? (Light NaruMai.)
1. Chapter 1

The job seemed boring, but Mai rather liked the house.

It was very old, but not in a creepy way; the architecture was gorgeous, and it smelled like something musky that Mai couldn't exactly identify. The entire time that Lin and Naru were moving in, Mai was peeking behind corners and sliding down railings, fascinated by each new discovery she made.

Of course, this earned her several disapproving looks from Naru.

"Stop playing around," he told her sternly, and put another heavy box down with a slight grunt. "We could use your help, you know. Go get the lighter camera tripods."

Mai gave an intentionally loud sigh. "Fine…"

It took them only a couple of hours to get a home base of sorts set up in one of the numerous spare rooms. Once that had been completed, Mai and Lin headed off to set up cameras around the house.

They didn't actually have enough cameras to put one in each room, so they prioritized bedrooms, hallways, and kitchens, mounting one on each room's wall or on a tripod. Lin was quiet, as could be expected, and Mai was babbling endlessly about the house.

"It's so beautiful," she rambled, and gave Lin a smile. "Have you seen the kitchens? There are three of them, Lin! They're huge! There's one that has this giant sink with this curved silver faucet with designs engraved-"

Lin sighed. "We're in that kitchen right now, Mai. I can see."

This did not deter Mai in the slightest, and she continued to go on about each room they entered.

Just once, Mai thought she felt something in one of the rooms-the wine cellar. It was dusty and well lit enough, but for a fraction of a second, she could have sworn that something was watching her. It was such a strong, terrifying presence that her knees wobbled, but it went away so quickly that she only got as far as opening her mouth to tell Lin before she felt fine again.

Lin gave her a questioning look, but because she doubted herself-or perhaps because she just never learned-she kept quiet about it, and soon forgot.

It was nearly nightfall by the time that Monk and Ayako showed up.

"Took you long enough," Naru commented, and turned grumpily back to his computer. Mai thought he seemed, if possible, more unhappy than usual, but she didn't know why. Lin also seemed a bit wary, but he tended to be on edge, especially when the numbers of the group rose from just Mai, Naru, and himself to include the others. His job was hard enough already, keeping him up all day and night, and on top of that, he was the one who battled off angry spirits until the other exorcists arrived. Mai imagined that using his shiki was probably rather tiring. By the time the others got there, he was generally already worn down, and then he'd have to add the buzzing sound of additional conversations to his list of annoyances. Luckily, he hadn't had to use his spirits on this case yet, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

"Sorry," Monk said, overriding Ayako's offended noise. "We were waiting to carpool with Masako and John, but their plane was late, so we ended up coming without them. They should be here very early in the morning, though." Spotting Mai, he gave a wide grin, which she returned happily.

"Yasu's really not coming, then?" Mai asked, disappointed.

"He's got an exam of some sort," said Monk, rolling his eyes. He winked, however, adding, "I think he intends to throw us a 'surprise' party at the office once we finish this case. Don't tell him I told you, okay?"

"Any activity yet?" Ayako asked, ignoring him.

"Nothing," Mai told her brightly. "No cold spots or noises or anything."

"That either means it's hiding or very weak," Monk reflected, taking a look into Lin's screens. "Hopefully, it's the latter."

Naru's eyes seemed to harden a bit at this, but Mai supposed that she could be imagining it.

"It's probably an earth spirit," Ayako determined confidently, and both Mai and Monk had to contain their laughter.

"It's best to get to sleep early," Naru told them, not even cracking a smile. "It will be a long day of investigation tomorrow." He indicated the numerous sleeping mats on the floor-there had been enough room in the base this time to set up sleeping quarters there-and Mai, Monk, and Ayako climbed into bed. Naru, however, stayed by Lin's side, staring unblinkingly at the glowing monitors.

Long after Monk and Ayako had started snoring, Mai was unpleasantly awake, blinded by the lights from the screens. Resigning herself to a night without sleep, she tiptoed out of the room as quietly as she could, then fumbled her way around in the dark until she reached the front door. The door squeaked more loudly than she'd have liked, but it was far enough away that she felt confident it wouldn't wake the others.

She was only alone on the house's front steps for a minute or two before Naru silently joined her, making her think of a rather lanky bat. Stifling a giggle, she turned her head so that she could see him properly.

He looked faintly displeased. How unusual.

She stopped. _It's too late at night to be sarcastic, Mai._

As was typical, Naru was silent, despite being the one who came to sit by her; instead of talking, the pale boy preferred to stare distantly into space, as if nothing could ever equal the importance of the hue of the night sky, or the glimmer of the stars.

Mai allowed a few minutes of this quiet before cutting in. "Everything okay? I know this job is really boring…"

Naru glanced at her rather quickly, his dark eyes betraying not the slightest hint of emotion. Mai felt a heat in her face that indicated irritation, but she couldn't go off on him–not in the middle of the night at a house they were supposed to be investigating professionally.

Maybe she could cheer him up, though. Struck with inspiration, her clumsy fingers grabbed a random rock from the gravel at their feet.

"Hey, Naru," she said in a higher-pitched voice than her own, showing him the pebble. "Is your coin friend around? I wanted to say hi!"

She knew as Naru glared at her that she sounded like a total idiot, and she grimaced. She'd just wanted to make him laugh, but apparently, her attempt was so horrendous that it went beyond humor and straight to pity.

To her surprise, however, the coin was suddenly in Naru's agile hand, peeking out from behind his pointer finger.

"He thinks your pebble is mentally unstable," Naru informed her in a flat tone.

Mai laughed so hard that she accidentally dropped the pebble, but quick as a flash, Naru had caught it and was handing it back to her. His hands were surprisingly warm, but Mai tried not to think too hard about that as she tucked the tiny rock into her pocket. She wasn't sure why she was keeping it, except that Naru had caught it and given it back to her.

"Leave her alone," Mai snapped at him instinctively, still laughing. "Just because your coin's all shiny he thinks he can insult good pebbles like that…"

The banter between the two of them continued for several minutes before Naru became noticeably tired, and Mai suggested that he go to bed. He seemed oddly hesitant, and Mai wondered to herself if something about the case was bothering him. She'd sensed it earlier, too-something about the case was making him uncomfortable, but she couldn't think of what. They'd been on plenty of cases nearly identical to this one-even if the spirit was strong and just disguising itself, they'd never been beaten in a situation like this before.

"You're not sure about this house, are you?" she finally asked, wondering if he'd be angry at her for asking.

Naru gave a sigh and looked down at his hands, clearly deep in thought. "What kind of haunting that is severe enough to warrant the vacating of the house stays quiet for a whole day?" Mai knew by his tone that he didn't want an answer, and so she said nothing in return.

It was a good question, and it made Mai nervous, but she managed to convince Naru that it was time for bed; she was worried by how unnerved he looked. After they took their respective places on the floor of the base, Mai subconsciously watched him. She knew by the unchanged speed of his breathing and his stiffness that he hadn't fallen asleep, but she couldn't stay awake long, and soon drifted off despite her concern.


	2. Chapter 2

Mai opened her eyes, shivering from the cold. Why was it so dark? Where had the monitors gone? Why didn't she hear the breathing of her friends? Why was it so freezing?

Why couldn't she find a light switch?

The room was suddenly filled with small bubbles, similar in appearance to fireflies, and Mai understood that she'd been sucked into one of her strange dreams again. She looked around, confused, and saw that she was in the cellar. The presence that she'd felt before, the one she'd all but forgotten about, swept over her again; she resisted the urge to scream and bolt in a random direction, searching instead for the door, her heart pounding in her ears.

The door wasn't there.

Even though Mai knew that her actual body was safe, she couldn't seem to stop the pure, vicious terror that was running icy cold in her blood. She knew that something was behind her-she could feel freezing breath on her neck, the way it stirred her hair; she could feel it close to her back, but no matter how she spun in circles, she couldn't catch a glimpse of it. She tried backing into the wall, but she could still feel it; a whimper escaped from her constricted lungs as she instinctively moved her arms to cover her center, close to tears.

Then the familiar glow softened the room, and Mai breathed a sigh of relief as the horror was lifted from her heart and the presence shrunk away from her back; there was Gene, wearing his usual gentle smile, which looked odd on the face so like Naru's. Still shivering and reeling from the crushing fear she'd just experienced, Mai ran at him, tears spilling from her eyes-Gene's light illuminated the wall for her, and sure enough, she could see a door now-

Mai was almost to him when she saw it.

It was a huge, lurking shadow, so black that its edges looked warped and undefined. It was faceless and figureless, but Mai could feel the evil radiating off of it like a poisonous mist; it towered behind Gene, who did not seem to feel it. In the span of a single instant, Mai saw him analyze her face, notice her expression, and realize what was happening, but that instant was too long-the thing struck at Gene's back and he fell, suddenly and silently, to the ground.

Mai didn't have time to feel the shock and fear-she went numb too quickly, collapsing to her knees as though her nerves had all been severed. She waited for Gene to get up, her ears ringing, but he didn't move; his glow faded, leaving the room shadowed and lightless.

Barely registering her surroundings, Mai felt the thing behind her again. And for one second-as odd it was to notice something so trivial at a time like this-she caught the strong scent of roses.

Her body moved of its own accord, tearing toward the door that had appeared. It was still there, and she opened it and flew forward, up the stairs just outside; she was only a few feet beyond the top of the staircase when she crashed to the ground, unable to move any further. The thing soared over her head and into one of the hallways, emitting a horrid shrieking sound, like a tortured beast, as it went. The scream resounded in her ears, and she felt herself screaming too, more loudly than she'd ever screamed before, deafening herself-

"Mai!"

She came to abruptly and painfully, her throat stripped raw. The lights in the room, which had evidently been turned on, blinded her. She was vaguely aware of Monk holding her and Ayako bending over her with concerned eyes; Lin was still sitting at the monitors, looking at her seriously, and Naru stood against the wall, watching her out of the corner of his eye. She couldn't read his expression in her state of upset.

"What the hell happened?" demanded Monk, and Mai could hear how his voice trembled with worry. She couldn't find her voice to answer; it was as though she'd forgotten how to speak, how words were supposed to string together to form sentences.

She registered that Ayako was standing up, and heard her quietly say "I'll go get some water."

"No," Mai croaked, clutching at Ayako's feet. "No."

"What?" Ayako asked, clearly surprised. "What do you mean, Mai? It's just water, it won't take long-"

"Don't," Mai managed to say, the words coming back to her in her hurry to stop Ayako. "You can't, I-I opened the door, it got out of the cellar-it's somewhere in the house right now, please don't go-"

Ayako started to say something, but was interrupted by Naru, who fixed Mai with an intense stare now.

"What exactly happened?"

Mai could only gaze blankly at him, her eyes glazed over; she somehow felt simultaneously like her mind was frozen and spinning out of control at an unbelievable speed.

Naru was-she saw again the image of the Gene from her dream being brutally struck down without a sound. What should she say? What should she do? Never before had anything in Mai's dream attacked Gene. He was there to guide her and show her the light, and it was as if whatever was living in this house had seen him and attacked him intentionally. Maybe the thing wanted to make sure she didn't have a guide to help her with this case. More than that-now that she thought about it, even though she'd relived experiences of those who had been attacked and seen attacks on others, no spirit or being had ever treated her with such violence. In fact, she could only think of one other instance where a spirit had even been aware of her presence at all. And-a new, freshly awful thought occurred to her. Was Gene okay? Could it have actually damaged his spirit?

Just what the hell was this thing? Was the dream a premonition that Naru was going to be attacked, if the thing recognized him as Gene? Had it been real enough to hurt Mai if it were to attack her dream self directly?

"Mai," Naru said harshly, dragging her out of her stupor.

"Sorry," she said hoarsely, and as she looked at him, she felt her eyes moisten with tears. She willed them to stop, embarrassed, but they kept coming. "It-it was in the cellar, and I was trapped in there. It attacked-a spirit. It stayed behind me most of the time, but I saw it. It was-" Picturing it again in her mind's eye was a mistake; she felt her stomach twist sickeningly, and shuddered visibly. "It was like a huge shadow, darker than black. And after it attacked-" She closed her eyes, remembering. The image of Gene flashed into her head again, and she willed it away. "It smelled like roses."

"Roses?" Monk asked confusedly, but Naru gave him a rebuking glance and he quieted.

"What do you mean you let it out?" Naru asked her, his voice becoming gentler.

"I got the sense that it was trapped," Mai told him. Her voice broke. "There wasn't a door at first at all, and when one appeared, I ran out of it. I saw the spirit-or whatever it was-fly over my head and go somewhere else in the house."

Naru caught on quickly. "Have you ever been able to interact with spirits through your dreams like that before? Perhaps it was only in your dream that it was released."

Mai shook her head slowly, her breath coming in odd stutters now. "This has never happened-I've always been like a viewer, watching from the outside, or reliving someone else's experiences. This time-" She couldn't find the words to explain it for a moment. "It was different. I was actually there, it saw me and knew I existed, and it responded to me. Technically, I think I've actually interacted with a spirit once before, but not like this. I don't know how I would actually open the door, but I know it's in this house now." She was telling the truth; the sense of calm that she'd felt throughout the house earlier had broken, and it wasn't just that she'd recently woken up from a nightmare; she could feel evil permeating the air, spreading through the floorboards and walls.

Now that she thought about it, the thing had attacked Gene after he'd been there only a couple of seconds. It had had plenty of time to attack Mai herself, but it didn't. Maybe-she felt a shiver go down her spine. Did it know she'd be able to open the door and set it free? How had she even done that?

One thing was for sure: it was smart.

Luckily, Naru took her word for it, and ordered Ayako and Lin to make barriers to set up on the walls of the room. The dark-haired boy announced that he was going with Lin to check around the house, but Mai, nearly hysteric at this point, blocked the door.

"You can't go!" she cried, her voice unnaturally squeaky. "Everyone has to stay in here until morning, I'm sorry, but I can't let you go-I-" She couldn't stand to look at Naru's face-every time she saw it, she saw the dream again, and it was Naru who fell instead of Gene-

A slight hardening of Naru's eyes indicated that he'd guessed that something had happened. Instead of telling her off and forcing her to move, he nodded his head once and returned to the computers, staring off into space. Watching him as discreetly as she could, Mai noticed that the monitors that showed temperature had all turned blue; not a hint of the earlier warmth remained.

Mai exhaled slowly, willing her heart to stop beating so fast; she slid down against the door, closing her eyes. She was suddenly exhausted now that her adrenaline rush was wearing off, and she forced her breathing to slow and her muscles to relax.

Feeling suddenly well-rested, she opened her eyes, only to realize that she was in the dream world once again, surrounded by blackness that was only broken by the drops of light. She could see clear through the walls, and with a numbness seeping through her skin, she saw the thing from the cellar. It was directly above them, clearly looking for a way into the room but unable to break the barriers for the time being.

Somehow, Mai had moved beyond being afraid and couldn't feel a thing. It was only when she heard a tapping on the wall beside her that she turned her head slowly.

As soon as she saw him, she straightened up. Gene was outside of the transparent wall, looking at her with his usual smile.

"Are you alright?" she asked hurriedly, inspecting him. He nodded reassuringly, and she felt a weight leave her chest. His normal glow was alarmingly dim, however, and something about him didn't look quite right; looking more carefully, Mai realized that his outline looked disturbingly blurry and fuzzy, and he seemed to be shaking slightly.

Noticing this, Gene told her, "Don't worry, I'm okay. I need a little time to recover, though. I'm not going to risk coming into the house until I'm back at my full strength. It doesn't like to leave this place, although it technically can, so I'm okay out here for now. I believe that it is strongly attached to something in this house, so it would take quite a lot to persuade it to go outside the walls."

"What is this thing?" Mai asked, some of her fear returning to her.

"It's an evil spirit, and a strong one," Gene said softly, glancing up to where it had started pacing in circles. "It's strong enough to sense when it's being spied on, and it was able to see you in your dream. Of course, I should have been more cautious, as it can attack other spirits at any time."

"How could I have let it out?" Mai's voice was trembling, but Gene's gentle light helped to keep her negative feelings under control. "They vacated this house because it was haunting them, right?"

Gene shook his head, frowning. "If this thing had been haunting them for a couple of weeks, they'd probably be dead. It's powerful enough that it likely drew other poltergeists here, which caused the signs that the family saw. I'm sure the poltergeists scattered when you came here. I believe that the door was likely a physical barrier, although you couldn't see it for what it was and accidentally broke it. The blame is mine; I did not realize the truth, and lit the way."

Above them, the thing made a disgusting hissing sound, and Mai shivered. "What do we do?"

The smile returned to Gene's face, and he told her, "Be careful. The barriers will be broken after a short time if they aren't maintained. When the sun comes out, however, it will hide in the open cellar."

She still had questions, but before she could say anything else, she was blinking awake, still leaning against the door. Looking up groggily, she realized that she was staring right into Naru's face.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked angrily.

Mai rubbed her eyes, confused. "Why are you getting mad at me?" She stood up so quickly that she made herself dizzy, but she regained her balance as Naru backed off. "What the hell? What is your problem, Naru?" Going from Gene's gentler face to Naru's stony one so quickly was throwing her off.

"How could you fall asleep again so soon, after you realized that the thing can interact with you in your dreams?" he nearly spat. "It's stupid and you know it. Don't do it again until morning."

As much as his tone made Mai want to slap him, she realized that he was worried and calmed herself down. Monk and Ayako, who were watching nervously, seemed to relax too.

"Sorry," Mai said. "It can't get in here right now, though. It's confused by the barriers we put up. They won't last for long, though. They need to be replaced as it wears them down. It's-" She glanced upward, feeling an uncomfortable lump in her throat. "It's above us, but it can't figure out how to get through the ceiling yet. We'll be safe once the sun comes up."

Naru still looked rather frustrated with her, but he left her alone. Despite the assurances she'd made to the others, Mai was too frightened to fall back asleep, and so all of them sat tensely for a few hours. After a while, Lin suddenly spoke.

"When were Masako and John planning on getting here, exactly?"

The atmosphere in the room seemed to completely freeze for a moment, and Monk, looking at the clock, said, "In about five minutes."


	3. Chapter 3

Ayako whipped out her phone and dialed a number, but Naru gave her a scalding look. "Do you really think we're going to have reception in a haunted place this one time?"

Judging by Ayako's distressed expression, Mai could tell that he was right. She stood up abruptly from where she'd been sitting on the floor, determined. "We have to go get them," she declared. "They're relatively safe while they're outside the house, since the thing doesn't like to leave according to my dream, but if they come in here unprotected, not expecting…" She shivered.

"Let's not panic," Naru reprimanded upon hearing her anxious tone. "They haven't arrived yet. Lin and I will go to pick them up. We'll be well protected enough by Lin's shiki. The rest of you should stay here. Make sure and replace the barriers on the doorway once we've gone, and again after we come back in."

He turned and began toward the door, Lin following like a larger shadow. Before Mai knew what she was doing, she was following them, telling Naru firmly, "I've seen the thing and I might be able to sense it. I'm coming with you. Don't try to argue with me."

Naru raised an eyebrow, unimpressed, but Lin beckoned her along. After checking that Ayako and Monk had barriers at the ready, the three opened the door and stepped outside. Lin called upon his glowing shiki, which circled them protectively, but not before Mai felt the horrid presence nearby. Her knees almost buckled, and Naru calmly grabbed her elbow to stabilize her.

Mai hated that she blushed, even when she was terrified.

The entire house was icy cold and smelled faintly of roses, just as it had been in Mai's dream. The brunette felt comforted by the light of the shiki that were protecting their little group, but the long hallways they passed through were still forbidding and ominous; Mai half expected the spirit to jump out at them every time they passed a corner. Luckily, even in this huge house, it wasn't far to the front door, and they somehow made it there and out onto the front porch without interruption from the malice-filled presence.

Once they were outside, Mai could breathe freely again, and sat down on the steps where she and Naru had been not long ago. Naru and Lin, however, did not sit down, instead choosing to lurk by the doorway like stress-filled shadows. Despite the late autumn wind, the air outside was significantly warmer than the air inside, and Mai's shivering shoulders unclenched.

They didn't have long to wait before a taxi pulled into the large driveway, and John and Masako clambered out with small suitcases in tow.

"What on earth are you guys doing out here so early?"

John's familiar accent was like music to Mai's traumatized ears, and she swept him into a hug. She would have done the same to Masako, who also looked rather confused, but she was afraid she would get a sharp slap to the face if she attempted that.

John looked surprised, but only responded by returning the gesture. Letting him go, Mai hastily returned to Naru's side, followed closely by Masako.

"Is something wrong?" the medium asked coolly, her eyes fixated on Naru's. Mai felt the usual twinge of jealousy and annoyance, but overlooked it in the face of the present danger.

"This house is not very safe at the moment, so we came to escort you to the base," Lin explained, causing Masako to unwillingly tear her eyes from Naru's to look at him.

"It's so dangerous that you think it'd take us out in the time it takes us to walk to base?" John asked, clearly shocked. "That's pretty rare. What exactly are we dealing with?"

Naru and Lin both looked pointedly at Mai, who shifted uneasily. "I only know that it's really bad," she muttered; she didn't really want to relive the dream right now, as it was hard enough to keep the unsettling images from flashing through her mind already.

Naru, evidently sensing this and deciding to be nice for some reason, added, "We can elaborate more when we're back with Monk and Ayako. I don't want to leave them alone for too long. What we are dealing with is not a joke." He glanced at Lin, who nodded to confirm that his shiki were still ready to go. "Let's go, then."

The instant that they stepped beyond the front door, Masako nearly passed out and was caught by John. Naru didn't stop, and John half-carried Masako along behind him with Mai following tensely.

Again, they made it through the hallways without any disturbance other than the staggering scent and unnatural temperature. When they reached the door to the base, however, Mai instinctively knew that something was very wrong.

She charged ahead of the others and busted through the door, heedless of the peril; she gagged at the even more overpowering smell of roses. The others hastened after her, Naru hissing at her for rushing ahead, but everyone stopped just inside the doorway, struck with a sudden inability to speak.

Each and every monitor was still well lit, but all of the screens were half-smashed in, causing them to show nothing more than freakish arrays of color and emit eerie, high-pitched noises. All of their carefully set up equipment lay broken on the ground. For a long, suspenseful moment, Mai's eyes couldn't find Monk and Ayako in the dreadful, pulsating light, but she managed to spot them. Both of them were in the corner of the room, leaning inanimately against the wall.

Sensing that she was about to go rushing to their aid, Naru seized Mai by the wrist and whispered to the group, "Everyone stay still."

Masako shook her head, clearly queasy and very pale even in the current lighting. "It-it is not here anymore. It has moved on. I can feel it moving around elsewhere-" She actually gagged, and John supported her more firmly. "It is-unlike anything I've ever-"

She hadn't finished her sentence when Mai violently broke Naru's grip and bolted to the side of her still friends. Neither showed any signs of movement, but when she anxiously watched their chests, she could see the comforting rise and fall of their breathing. Lin, who had followed her, checked their pulses and then looked back at the rest of them.

"They appear to just be sleeping," the tall man said in a comfortingly collected voice, and hoisted Monk onto his back, his dark hair covering most of his face. "We need to find a safer place to set up base-we don't know enough about this spirit yet to know whether it has poisoned the atmosphere in here somewhere, or made a hole in the remaining defenses that we will be unable to detect before it sneaks back in." He paused for a moment, looking around him as if taking a head count. "Mai, support Masako. John, get Ayako. Naru will gather whatever supplies he can find for creating barriers and other protection. We need to move quickly."

"I will need either Miss Hara or Mai to tell me where in the house the thing is and what direction it is moving in so that we can choose a secure place to set up," Naru informed them.

Mai shook her head slowly, trying to contain the panic that was threatening to rise in her throat and suffocate her. "I can't tell where it is. I think I may have felt it pass by when we left-" She swallowed. Of course, she'd felt it. She was so stupid-she hadn't said anything, hadn't stopped-it had slipped through just as Lin had summoned his shiki, although she hadn't known at the time that the sensation she felt was it actually coming so near to her-it was her fault, then, all her fault that Monk and Masako were-

"Miss Hara?"

Naru's impatient voice snapped her back to the present.

Masako managed to bring herself around long enough to say, "It's-it's in the opposite corner of the house right now, it's very far away, I don't think it likes the shiki-a room very close to here should be safe-"

After Naru quickly salvaged remaining materials from the wreckage of their equipment and the others made the necessary arrangements to carry their coworkers, the weakened group moved into the room directly across the hall. Lin immediately began writing protection barriers, his shiki guarding the walls, ceiling, and floor as he worked. With Ayako and Monk out of commission, Lin was the only one that could complete the task, and Mai watched him worriedly; she remembered how tiring it was for him. It may have been her imagination, but she thought she saw him drowsily shake his head a couple of times, as if to keep himself alert.

When he had at last finished, and the barriers were put up around the new room, those who were still able tried to make Monk, Ayako, and Masako comfortable. They'd abandoned the sleeping pads in the old base, but Mai, Naru, and Lin offered up their jackets as pillows for their ailing companions. Mai hoped that their own jackets would keep the sleeping ones warm enough, but was concerned about Masako, who was in her usual attire and unprotected from the cold. She took off her overshirt to cover Masako up, and as a result was left shivering and shaking in her camisole. As her teeth began to chatter, Naru gave her a sideways glance, but didn't do anything.

It was only another half hour before the lights from Lin's shiki abruptly disappeared, leaving the room pitch black other than the light of the waning moon through the small window. Mai gasped when it happened, but Naru seemed unaffected; he checked on his bodyguard, who had fallen asleep sitting against the wall, but did not appear to be concerned.

Once again finding herself to be effectively alone with Naru, Mai stared down at her knees, not wanting to make eye contact-although it'd be rather difficult to even do so in this dim lighting. She shivered yet again, wishing that she'd listened to her inner voice when it had told her to wear more layers, as cases sometimes got chilly.

She didn't even notice that Naru had approached until he sat down beside her, utterly silent and expressionless; even if it were brightly lit, Mai doubted that she could read what was in his dark eyes at the moment. She was justifiably surprised by his movement, but didn't say anything, not wanting to break the unnerving quiet; she felt that if she said something now, the volatile nervous energy in the room would somehow snap.

Naru was sitting very close to her, and she could feel the heat coming off of his body in the biting cold. Leaning slightly away from the wall, he carefully and deliberately unbuttoned his overshirt, draping it instead over her shoulders. He sat back against the wall again, still not saying a single word or betraying any hint of emotion; Mai, however, could only stare at him, hardly able to process what had happened.

This was so uncharacteristic of Naru; everything from the kind and intimate gesture to the sight of Naru in a simple white undershirt seemed surreal, but she didn't question it. Instead, she looked away and hid the redness in her cheeks, an easy feat in the darkness, and hugged the shirt closer to her skin.

The two of them stayed like this for what seemed like hours, but Mai knew it was probably only a few minutes before the newfound warmth and comfort lulled her into an unwilling sleep yet again.

When she opened her eyes in the dream world, Mai found that she was still in the room she'd fallen asleep in, which was unusual. Perhaps, she thought, it was all of the barriers.

What was even more unusual was that she could see her own body; she had slumped sideways a little, her head on an unmoving Naru's shoulders. She thought that she saw Naru turn his head ever so slightly, lips upturning a bit, but it was more than likely just that she couldn't see well in this environment. Still, she felt butterflies in her stomach and struggled to quell them.

Mai straightened up, trying to focus, and looked around at her dream world, which was dimly lit by what she thought of as the firefly lights. As always, walls provided no real visible barrier, and her wide brown eyes roved over the entirety of the house until she found the malevolent spirit.

As Masako had said, it was nearly as far away from them as it could be; maybe it didn't realize the shiki were gone, or maybe it had other business to attend to. Mai couldn't possibly know which. The room she was in was utterly empty of any spirits, and Gene was nowhere to be found. Mai supposed he probably didn't have his full strength back up yet and hoped he'd stay away, just to be safe.

Her gaze was still fixed on the black, nebulous thing when she noticed something odd.

There was something else near the spirit-no, a couple of somethings. They seemed to be spirits, but they didn't give off a strong glow like Gene, just weak sparks in the intense darkness. She couldn't make out what they were from here, but when she heard a cry from their direction, her heart seemed to stop.

That couldn't be….Monk and Ayako?

As soon as the thought occurred to her, she took off running. When she got to the walls of the room, she was thrown back with a small flash of light.

 _The barriers….I can't get through them!_

Hoping against hope that it would work, she raced to the window and hoisted herself up as best she could. The effort was successful, and she was able to fall through the glass and outside. Once there, she went in through a different wall and continued as quickly as she could.

The closer she got to the spirit, the more clearly she could see it; the thing was looming over the spirits of Monk and Ayako, who seemed to be attempting to fight back. She could faintly hear Monk reciting his mantra, but it didn't seem to be very effective; she thought she heard him stuttering and pausing in his chant. Ayako, meanwhile, was quivering on the ground behind him, clutching her arm as if nursing an injury.

It took her at least a full minute to reach them running as fast as she could, and she burst into the room without considering it first. Ayako gasped upon seeing her, which distracted Monk, who stopped chanting.

As soon as he did so, the thing lunged at them, but Ayako seemed to have come to her senses; she grabbed Monk's arm and jumped out of the way in the nick of time, and the thing twisted so fast that it was barely visible.

Not knowing what else to do, Mai raised her hands and slashed them in the familiar pattern to perform the nine cuts. " _Rin! Pyo! To! Sha! Kai! Jin! Retsu! Zai! Zen!"_

The thing was blasted backward a mere millimeter from Ayako's face, giving a shriek and releasing a vent of noxious, rose-scented grey smoke. Acting purely on adrenaline now, Mai seized Monk and Ayako by the wrists, pulling them along behind her. "Go!"

Both of them obliged and sprinted after her as the thing wailed behind them. Ayako stumbled a couple of times and was stabilized by Monk, but they were making good ground. Terror rushed through Mai when she felt the thing's presence again and knew it was following close behind them, but just then, they flew threw the outer wall of the house and onto the cold ground. All three of them stumbled and scraped their knees, but Mai urged them on. She couldn't tell whether it was following them any more; it didn't feel as close, but from what Gene had told her, it could leave if it really wanted to.

They reached the outside wall of their little base, and Monk and Ayako both turned to her so fast that they almost fell over; when Mai indicated the window, Monk hoisted first her and then Ayako through it, pulling himself through last.


	4. Chapter 4

All three of them collapsed on the floor, spluttering and coughing as the thing gave another ear-splitting shriek from the hallway outside the base.

Ayako indeed had an odd black wound on her arm, which seeped a viscous, dark liquid. She and Monk both looked very alarmed to see their bodies lying on the floor, and Monk turned to Mai, his chest heaving.

"Mai, what the hell?" he panted. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"

Mai shook her head, also breathing heavily. She felt her heart starting to slow down, but her throat was dry. "I don't know. I don't know how you two are in my dream world-I don't understand what's happening. But I don't think it's going to follow us outside at the moment and it can't get through the barriers, so we should be okay for now."

Monk gave a heavy sigh, obviously trying to calm himself enough to take control of the situation. "That monster struck Ayako on the arm, and it's been hurting her a lot. If you hadn't come and grabbed us, I think it wouldn't gotten us both." He looked ashamed. "I was too confused, and I didn't recite my mantra well-I almost got us both killed."

Mai shook her head. "It's okay now." She was still shaking, and Monk noticed. Before he could say anything, however, Ayako spoke up.

"Are we dead?"

Monk glanced at her a little too quickly, but Mai told her, "No, we've been checking you guys and we think you're just asleep." She pondered it for a moment, and added, "I think we should try to get you back in your bodies. It's too dangerous to stay like this-I don't know how being in this state for long periods of time would affect us."

"How do we do that?" snapped Ayako, and Mai knew from her irritable tone that her pain was probably flaring. "We're not exactly experts on this, Mai."

Mai knew she was right, but she didn't know what to do, and panic was threatening to engulf her yet again. She forced herself to breath slowly.

"We just have to experiment," she responded. "I don't know, try going over to your bodies or something."

Ayako looked doubtful, but Monk tried it, and after a small flash of light, his spirit disappeared into his body successfully. He woke up instantly, sitting up and looking around in alarm; Mai knew he couldn't see them anymore, and was panicking. Ayako followed his lead and woke up as well, gasping. Mai wasn't sure if it would work for her, as she hadn't been able to find her body in her sleep before, but she had to try. She saw that Naru had noticed the activity of Monk and Ayako and was gently removing her head from his shoulder, and she attempted the jump into her body; she felt a momentary rush of warmth as she was reunited with her physical form.

She straightened up so fast that her head hit Naru, who was halfway through standing up, in the face; he stumbled slightly, glared at her, and continued over toward Monk and Ayako. Lin, John, and Masako were also awakened by the sudden noisiness.

Mai slowly rose and followed Naru, her body aching. The two whose spirits had just been returned were both sitting upright and seemed unharmed, other than a large purple bruise on Ayako's injured arm. Mai breathed a sigh of relief, almost unable to believe that they'd all escaped unscathed.

"What happened?" Naru asked sharply, and it was Monk who answered.

"That thing must have slipped in here when you opened the door," the blond man answered, shivering slightly in the cold. "I felt this chill hit me and suddenly, I was outside my body, and it was holding me. I managed to break away from it and run, though."

"The same thing happened to me," Ayako added. "It dragged me out of my body and threw me against the wall. I got the sense it would have killed me then and there if it hadn't been distracted by Monk running about."

"We managed to evade it for a while, but it had us pretty well backed into a corner when Mai showed up," Monk admitted, his face rather red. "I'm sorry to say that I was too flustered to protect us properly. She used the nine cuts and brought us back. Additionally, neither Ayako nor I could really see anything before she showed up-it was too dark, and we had run away blindly without being able to see where we were going. It was hard to even see the monster, whatever that was, although it was much blacker than its surroundings. Mai seemed to be able to see just fine, though, and led us back and through the window-the walls blocked us out. She really saved us."

Mai thought to herself that they were all awfully lucky to have escaped at all, especially with her being the one who'd come to their aid; she was honestly surprised that she'd managed not to fall on her face and get them all killed, as would be her normal tendency.

She became uncomfortably aware that everyone was staring at her, and she cleared her throat as quietly as she could. Naru finally broke the silence, his face illuminated only by a thin beam of moonlight.

"We do know a few things, at least. Firstly, we know that this this attacks by removing one's spirit from one's body and then attacking the spirit directly. It is probable that the spirit cannot do real damage to a physical body, and needs to drag the spirit out of the victim's body to make it more vulnerable. Additionally, it does not seem to mind attacking multiple targets simultaneously." He tilted his head back a bit as he continued onward, seeming to contemplate the ceiling.

"Secondly, we know that Mai's spiritual abilities allow her to see and interact with the dream or spirit world in a way that the rest of us cannot. This means that the rest of us are probably relatively helpless in spirit form as far as finding our way back to this room goes. It also means that Mai is the only one who will be able to intentionally interact with the wraith aside from those who have been attacked and had their spirits removed. Thirdly, we know that the barriers placed on the surfaces of this room block all spirits from entering and exiting without physical form, including our own."

He turned back to face them drearily as he concluded. "Lastly, we know that those in spirit form can have an effect on this specter using exorcism and defense methods."

The others listened in silence, waiting for him to finish.

"No one leaves this room without the protection of Lin's shiki when it is dark. Miss Hara, keep a constant eye on where this thing is-do not lose sight of it. Ms. Matsuzaki, you'll need to make additional barriers-Lin's won't last forever, and neither will his stamina. As soon as the sun rises, we'll be attempting to exorcise it, so sleep while you can."

Lin fell back asleep almost immediately, as did Masako, but everyone else sat in silence. Mai figured that the sun would be out in an hour or two, and anyway, she was getting rather tired of continuously falling back asleep. She was a bit concerned about Naru, who had returned to Lin's side; as far as she knew, he hadn't slept a wink all night, and it didn't look as if he intended to do so now. She understood, of course, that this case was very odd and stressful, but it wasn't like Naru to let anything faze him so easily.

To be fair, though, she herself had spent the entirety of the night either screaming, shivering, or holding her breath in terror. She supposed she couldn't blame him for being a little restless.

They waited until the sun was high enough to shine in the windows before they made a move.

Naru-to whom Mai had returned the borrowed overshirt-didn't wake Lin, but he had John wake Masako, who was looking much better. As Mai followed Monk, John, Naru, and Masako out into the house, she thought she knew why; the smell of roses had diminished significantly, and the air was almost back up to a normal temperature. All the same, Naru left Ayako with Lin as a precaution; he obviously didn't want his bodyguard to be disturbed in his slumber.

They were assigned different parts of the house; Naru went with Masako and John to the second floor to begin purifying, while Monk and Mai were assigned the bottom floor.

As much as she would like to pretend that she was helping, all Mai could really do was watch over Monk as he recited his mantras, his eyes closed and his face serene. She wished with all her heart that she could believe these exorcisms would be successful, but when she felt the warmth of the sunlight through the window on her skin, she somehow knew that the thing had long since hidden where they couldn't touch it: the cellar. She sincerely doubted that their exorcisms out in these bright, warm rooms would do much good.

Still, they had to try. It took hours for them to finish their work. It was nearly dinnertime when the five of them met up at the base, all exhausted. After some consideration, Naru decided to give the surviving food left in the old base a try, as everyone was starving and it was all they'd brought; it took only a few moments to transfer it to the room where Lin was, surprisingly, still asleep. Before Mai and the others could even think about starting in on their meals, however, Naru gave them all a rather pointed glare, and everyone but Lin and Ayako followed him outside again.

"We haven't gotten rid of it, have we, Miss Hara?" he said in a low voice. Masako shook her head slowly, and Naru's eyes hardened. "I thought so. That was all useless, then. Is it hiding in the cellar, as Mai said it would?"

Masako's smooth brow furrowed for a mere moment before she answered. "I believe so."

"Then that's where we're going," Naru instructed. "It's not dark outside yet, so it will likely not run away from us into the house. John should try first; his exorcism has the best chance of success in this situation, I think. Now-"

"That's really not a good idea," Mai whispered, and Naru silently waited for an explanation. "It's just that-" Without warning, her dream replayed in her mind again-the dark cellar with its terrible presence, doorless, windowless-it was a death trap. She somehow knew that going in would not end well.

"You don't have to come with us," Naru told her flatly, and turned to leave.

"No way!" Mai shouted at him, angry that he wasn't listening to her. "You didn't see it, you don't understand. We can't go after it, Naru! It'll attack us all!" When the pale boy did not respond, she grabbed his sleeve and yanked at it like a frightened child. "Please, Naru-"

He did not make a move to physically break her grip, but when he turned and looked at her, his eyes were stony. "What would you like us to do, Mai? Run from it in fear? Are we not here to exorcise it? Should we give up and allow it to kill anyone who dares enter this place?" The entire group visibly cringed at his icy tone.

Mai shook her head, hating the way that tears were gathering in her eyes, hating herself for her weakness but unwilling to agree with him. "There has to be a smarter way to do this than walking into that cellar. We can think of a plan, I know we can." More silence. She released her hold on Naru's arm, her knees trembling. "I know that this isn't what we're supposed to do."

Something in Naru's face softened. "We'll leave it alone for tonight," he told her.

Monk, John, and Masako all seemed relieved as well, and when they closed the door to the base, it was with a sense of finality. Lin was awake by now, although he still looked weary. When he spoke, however, his voice was as strong and even as ever.

"No luck, I take it?"

"No," Naru answered, and took the bread Lin was handing to him. "It seems that we need to think of a safe way to get rid of it."

The room was silent as everyone distributed and ate the sorry meal. Apparently, Mai thought, no one else was having any brilliant ideas about how to exorcise this thing, either. Lin did take the opportunity to add a seal to the window, just in case the thing decided to go outside in order to access it.

After a while, when the sky was starting to darken, Ayako spoke up.

"Mai, you said you let it out through a door or something, right? Can you close it back in if you go back into your dream?"

"I don't even know how I opened it in the first place or what it was," Mai admitted shamefacedly. "I was trapped with it, and then the door just...appeared."

"It probably took advantage of your astral projection to break a seal of some sort that had been placed on something in the cellar," Naru said. "You thought you were opening the door, but there may have been something there that you accidentally removed. If that's the case, though, it may be impossible to tell how it was originally sealed."

"You think someone else trapped this thing in the cellar before?" John asked, widening his clear blue eyes. "Like they couldn't exorcise it and tried sealing it instead?"

Naru shook his head. "It's impossible to know for sure, especially as Lin and Mai did not observe any physical evidence of a seal when placing the camera in the cellar. We could look in the morning, but I doubt we'd find any evidence; I'm sure that malignant spirit will have done away with any traces of it by now." He stared off into space, apparently deep in thought. "Mai, you said it didn't want to leave the house. Do you know why?"

"Ge- _-I_ think," Mai corrected quickly, but not before Naru narrowed his eyes slightly, "that it is attached to something inside the house, and doesn't want to go too far away from it."

"Sounds like a sensitive spot-something that it wouldn't want us to find," Monk considered.

Masako, who had said nothing for quite a while, added, "If that is the case, I would assume that this object lies within the cellar somewhere, out of sight."

"Maybe we can use whatever it is to force the spirit outside the house, where I can exorcise it," Ayako said, a fresh note of confidence coloring her tone. "There's a grove of trees not a fifteen minutes' walk away. If we can lead it out there, I can deal with it."

For a moment, the mood in the darkening room lightened considerably, but Naru squashed their hopes promptly. "How do you suggest we obtain whatever this object is? During the day, going into the cellar would be equivalent to walking straight into the thing's arms, and during the night, it roams freely through the halls and may attack at any moment. In order to find whatever this is, we will need an extended period of time to search the cellar uninterrupted."

This stumped everyone, and they descended into uneasy silence once more.

A thought occurred to Mai-a thought that she was one hundred percent sure she would regret sharing, but she had to do it, as it was the only idea they had.

"I could distract it long enough for you all to search tonight," she said, and although her voice shook, her resolve strengthened with each word. "It won't work during the day, because it doesn't have anywhere else to go. At night, though, it comes out. I bet if I'm annoying enough, it'd follow me just about anywhere. I'm sure it won't even notice you guys poking around the cellar if I push its buttons just right. After all, isn't that what I do best? Annoying people?" She gave an unconvincing smile, and knew that no one was fooled by her falsely bright tone; she was sure her heart was pounding loudly enough for everyone to hear.

"That's out of the question," Naru said with a sense of finality, but Mai wasn't done.

"It's the only idea I can think of," she snapped, and instantly felt bad; Naru was just worried about her safety, that's why he rejected her plan-and yet-

And yet, if Mai didn't snap, didn't react with her normal aggression-if she listened to him-he might be able to dissolve her determination again, and then her plan would fail. She had to have her confidence behind her on this.

Naru just glared at her. "No, Mai. It's not funny, and it's not happening."

The others nodded their heads in agreement. "We've never tried a method that dangerous before," John rebuked gently. "When we've done exorcisms in the past, it's always been with a fair amount of certainty that what we're doing is reliable and safe. This plan is neither of those things."

"I don't hear any other ideas," Mai responded irritably, at which everyone looked awkward.

"We could try burning the house again," suggested Monk half-heartedly, but Naru shook his head.

"It's quite likely that burning whatever object it's attached to will not be enough to get rid of the spirit, and if that's the case, destroying this house and that object would be the equivalent of simultaneously freeing and angering it."

Apparently, no one thought that sounded particularly appealing, as no one spoke up to argue.

"I could perform my exorcism from farther away and trust it to draw the spirit out," Ayako said, "but if it is really attracted to something in the cellar that strongly and hides, I don't know whether it will work or not. If we try it and it fails, we'll lose my exorcism as a possible method, since the trees will need to rest after they are used."

Mai knew that she was not alone in thinking that simply leaving was technically an option, but not one of them said it. They couldn't just leave it here to kill whoever stumbled across the place next, especially not when Mai had suggested a viable option.

Naru spoke up rather aggressively. "You know, I could probably-"

" _No,"_ snapped Lin and Mai simultaneously. Mai glared at Naru until he sighed and leaned back, conceding.

"Look," the young brunette told them vexedly, "my suggestion is the only one that makes any sense, and unless you all want to spend another day and night here, you'd better decide pretty fast." As Naru opened his mouth, probably to shoot her idea down again, she talked a little more loudly. "I'm not helpless, you know. The nine cuts worked on it before, and I can actually see what I'm doing and where it is in the astral plane. Can anyone else say the same?"

It was extremely unlike her to speak this way about her abilities, and she hated how boastful it sounded, but she had to get her point across. She tucked her hands into her jacket pockets to keep her friends from seeing how they trembled, and took another deep breath.

"I know it sounds dangerous, but I promise that it will be fine. You'll need Masako to warn you if it stops paying attention to me and comes after you guys, though." _Or if it kills me and then comes after you._

"I think it's a good idea," Masako said suddenly, as if called to attention by the mention of her name.

For a moment, the thought crossed Mai's mind that Masako was definitely still jealous of her, but she shook her head to clear the idea away; Masako would never suggest she do something dangerous for such a petty reason. As much as the petite medium liked to pretend she felt complete disdain for Mai, she really did care, and Mai knew it. She felt a little bad about the fact that her mind had instinctively jumped to that thought, and felt her face turn red.

An accumulation of protests pulled Mai back to the conversation, and Masako hushed them.

"The spirit's presence is strong enough that I can keep an eye on it," she explained. "I think we should trust Mai to know what she's doing. We don't have any idea how that world works for her, so if she says that she can do it, well-I think she'd know better than we would."

No one was protesting now, although the air felt charged and anxious.

"Well, then, can't Lin send one of his shiki with Mai, to protect her?" John asked hopefully. Monk and Ayako were nodding in agreement, but it was Lin who shook his head.

"It has not thus far bothered with my shiki, most likely because they would not be overly easy to defeat were it to attempt to attack them and because getting to us is not worth the risk of trying to get past them. For that reason, seeing a shiki with Mai would undoubtedly deter it from following her. The entire point of getting it to follow Mai is to distract it, so that it does not realize in the first place what we are doing; I suspect that if it decides not to follow Mai and instead notices what we are up to, it will be more than willing to take on my shiki. I doubt that they will last against a spirit that powerful, as hesitant as it seems to fight them."

"Someone can at least go with Mai, then," Ayako said, clearly grasping at straws now out of concern. "She shouldn't be all alone!"

"I don't know about you, but I'm not planning on letting that thing get close enough to touch me," Mai argued, and, somehow, she laughed. "Do you really want to let it tear your spirit out of your body again? Are you sure it won't take the opportunity to catch you and injure you quickly this time?" She felt more and more guilt at her tone every time she opened her mouth, but she had no idea how to deal with this except to force them to stop arguing with her.

"Not only that," Masako added, "but whoever went with her would be blind and helpless in comparison as well. I do not think Mai's chances of successful escape will be increased by dragging one of us around by the hand."

They all looked to Naru, who didn't speak for several seconds. Finally, however, he admitted defeat. "We'll try it. But Mai, the _instant_ you get into trouble, I'm expecting you to return to this room and to your body. Understand?"

Mai nodded, not sure whether to feel relieved that they'd accepted her idea or terrified that she'd have to follow through with it.

"Mai doesn't always go into her dream world," Masako pointed out suddenly. "Even once she falls asleep, we cannot begin safely until we know that she is around and able to draw it away. Even if I feel it leaving, it may just be wandering rather than chasing Mai, and could come back at any time to attack."

"But Mai can use her astral projection abilities to move things, can't she?" Monk pondered. "She has moved physical objects before in her dreams, right? Maybe she can give us some sort of sign?"

Naru looked at her expectantly, but she felt a lump in her throat. "I've never done it on purpose before. I have no way of knowing whether I can do it when I'm actually trying to do it."

"If you fail, we won't go ahead with the plan," Lin said simply.

Mai nodded. "I guess...I just have to try to sleep?"

No one argued with her; moonlight was flooding through the window again, indicating that it was time to put their plan into action.

"Mai," Lin told her, "I'm going to remove the barriers from one wall of this room and place one of my shiki here to protect it, so that your body can remain here, and so that this place will still be safe when we return. If you need to flee into your body, the shiki will let you through, but will prevent the spirit's entry as best it can. Again, I do not believe it will care enough about catching you to fight them, as it will be dangerous for it."

Mai nodded, forcing herself to breathe in and out slowly and trying not to think about what she was about to do. As much faith as Masako and the others had in her, she knew that it wasn't deserved, and she also knew there was a high chance that she wouldn't succeed. They overestimated her, but then again, that had been her intent, since this plan was the only thing she could think of and she couldn't bear to see any of her friends hurt.

"I'm going to try to sleep, then," she said, unable to keep a slight quiver out of her voice. No one was quite looking her in the eyes.

"Be careful," Naru said, so quietly that she almost didn't catch it.

She nodded her head once, and as Lin and Ayako began taking down the barriers on the wall the door was on, she closed her eyes and willed herself to fall asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

As it turned out, it was not easy to fall asleep while under the effects of adrenaline, stress, and fear. Try as she might to keep her eyelids relaxed and her breathing steady, she couldn't help but hear the nervous shuffling of her friends as they watched her. As soon as she was asleep, assuming she even went into her dream world, she'd have to face that monstrosity again. She had been brave enough suggesting the plan, but she didn't know if she could really do it. It petrified her with fear. Would she even be able to move?

It seemed like hours went by with her just lying on the cold ground, trying her best not to tremble too much. Eventually, however, she snapped to, suddenly standing and surrounded by the firefly lights.

 _It worked!_

Then she remembered what was ahead of her. That decreased her excitement significantly.

Now came the challenging part (well, one of the challenging parts): she had to indicate to the others that she was there. Her best hope was Masako, who could frequently sense and even see spirits, but as she stood over the young medium, there was no reaction.

"I think she's asleep," Monk said, and Mai gave a sigh of exasperation.

 _Masako's supposed to be one of the world's greatest mediums and she can't even tell there's a spirit staring her in the face?_

"No sign yet," Ayako muttered, glancing around nervously, as though expecting Mai to jump at her and shout "Boo" at any moment.

"Give her a couple of minutes," Lin responded with a twinge of annoyance. "She could have trouble with this step. Let her figure it out."

Mai felt an unexpected rush of warmth towards Lin, and resolved to force hot tea upon him later.

She glanced around, observing her surroundings and trying to ignore the spirit beast, which was prowling the corridor directly above them. Everyone was wide awake, and most of them were staring at her sleeping form, which made her very uncomfortable.

What could she do to make them realize she was there? It was possible her spirit was too weak for Masako to sense, or maybe she just couldn't sense mere astral projections. In that case, it came down to Mai moving something.

 _...How do I do that, exactly?_

She tried to remember how it had felt when she gave Masako the key, but all she could think was that, at the time, she never expected there to be a physical exchange. How was she supposed to do this intentionally? After all, it defied logic. If she couldn't make herself believe that it would happen, how could it ever work?

She tried everything she could think of. She attempted to move some of the papers and materials by Lin; she tried to make a noise by knocking on the window, as she had seen spirits creepily do before; she tried to tip over Ayako's cup of water. She even tried to punch Naru's narcissistic face, but it was futile; nothing moved an inch.

She felt a weight in her pocket that she'd almost forgotten about, and took it out; it was the little pebble, the one that Naru had given back to her the previous night. She stared at it for a solid two seconds, frustration welling up within her. Naru and all of the others were so competent and so good at protecting each other. They each had unique skills or talents, and although they'd told her a dozen times that she was no different, she knew that they were wrong. Just because she naturally had latent psychic abilities didn't make her useful, because she was evidently too stupid to use them correctly, and too stupid to help her friends. The more she looked at the pebble, the more she saw Naru's rare little smile in her mind's eye, and the more angry she became with herself. Honestly, how silly was it that she'd trip up the entire case with something this simple when they were counting on her?

Fit to burst with frustration, she flung the pebble as hard as she could in a random direction.

There was an abrupt, startled squeak of confusion and distress. Mai realized that the sound had come from John, who was rubbing his head and looking very perplexed indeed.

"What happened?" Ayako asked, and Monk rushed over to check the new bump on John's head. Naru, who had been the only one other than Masako not to rise at John's yell, got up calmly and bent over. When he straightened up, he silently showed the little rock to the others, none of whom could seem to understand how exactly John had been assaulted by a pebble.

Mai's brain seemed to have frozen completely. Had she...had she really just accidentally attacked John? Should she laugh and be happy that it had worked, or apologize and be worried for John? She couldn't contain a little bit of a giggle at the look on John's face, though, especially when she replayed the little noise he'd made in her head.

"What the hell?" Monk snapped, releasing John from his inspection. "Naru, did you throw that?"

"Did it _look_ like I threw that?" Naru asked coldly. "It's pretty obviously Mai. It's exactly her style, after all."

 _My style? What does that mean, exactly?_ She felt rather offended. Her style was attacking people with rocks?

"Mai," Naru said to the room at large, "assuming you're still here, remember that Lin's shiki will let you back into the room at any time. Immediately return to your body if things go badly. That is a direct order from your employer.

"We'll be heading for the cellar, which is in the corner of the house nearest to our current location. You'll have to lead the spirit as far away from here as possible. There are stairs connected the upper and lower floors in loops, including the attic, on the opposite side of the house, so if you can keep it entertained there, you'll have plenty of room to run around. Masako should be able to sense the spirit leaving when it starts to chase you, so we'll be fine.

"Once we obtain whatever object it is that is hidden the cellar, we'll bring it back here. We are going to wait until tomorrow morning to attempt to draw the spirit outside, as it will be easier for Ayako to purify it then. The timing will be close, as you will need to get back in here before Lin replaces the shiki with barriers. As soon as we see you return to your body, we'll put up the barriers again, since the shiki likely can't hold the spirit back indefinitely."

There was a very long, very poignant pause.

"If we get back in here and the thing is attacking us actively, and we don't know where you are, we may have to seal the room."

Mai shivered at the sudden darkness in his already serious tone; it forced her to take in the reality of the situation.

 _That's right,_ she thought suddenly. _I'm not the only one whose life is at stake here. If I get stuck somewhere, or something happens, they can't just let the thing walk in._

It made her feel an odd sense of calm, knowing that if she got held up, they wouldn't let it put them in danger for too long. It was a definite possibility that she might have to hide somewhere if it backed her into a corner, or that it might chase her outside and bar her from returning.

"Well, Mai?"

Masako's voice surprised her for a moment.

"Are you going? I can tell the beast isn't moving, you know. You'd better get going while it's still nice and dark, don't you think?"

Monk gave Masako a glare for her tone, but also addressed thin air. "Good luck, Mai. You've got this."

Mai nodded, although no one could see her. Before her resolve could weaken any further, she took a deep breath and practically jumped through the wall, raising her voice as loudly as she could.

"HEY, SPIRIT ASSHOLE! YOU WANT SOME?"

She regretted her choice of words as it gave an earth-shattering shriek above her and plummeted through the ceiling directly behind her, nearly knocking her off her feet with the shockwave it created. As she sprinted away from it, not daring to look back, the adrenaline rushing through her body washed out all the fear and replaced it with pure, unbridled energy.

It was coming after her so fast, however, that she could feel its rotten energy slowly encasing her. She pushed herself even harder, flying up the stairs and turning so quickly that she almost slid into the wall. The thing gave yet another broken shriek, but following Mai up the stairs had clearly slowed it down a little bit; it seemed to prefer to just go through the walls or ceilings. She took advantage of the small head start and put on another burst of speed, pulling ahead of it. Looking back at it, she saw out of the corner of her eye that Naru, Lin, Monk, Masako, and John had already reached the cellar door. She snapped her head back forward; she had thought before that the spirit was intelligent, and she didn't want it following her gaze.

The next corner she turned led her to a dead end. She was going so fast that she actually did hit the wall this time, falling ungracefully onto her back. The thing advanced more slowly, and she could hear it making a sickly whining sound. Her breath was coming in short, painful spurts; her brain seemed to be frozen.

She shook her head. Now was no time to lose her will. She stood firmly and readied herself momentarily, just as she had the last time she'd encountered this monster.

" _Rin! Pyo! To! Sha! Kai! Jin! Retsu! Zai! Zen!"_

Another scream rang in the air as it reeled, contorting and warping. Mai took the opportunity to run past it, shuddering as she passed a little too close to its aura. It made her feel so woozy that she nearly fell to her knees, but she managed to keep going.

Not wanting to let it face directly toward the cellar, Mai turned farther away from it, toward the opposite corner of the house. She didn't know what she'd do once there, but she'd just have to figure it out then. It had already recovered and was chasing after her again.

She'd barely made it around the next corner when it hit her hard from behind; an explosion of pain across her back shocked her, and she flew all the way to the end of the hall, slamming her head against the wall sickeningly. There was an unpleasant cracking sound upon contact.

Maybe it was because it was impossible to black out while she was already asleep, but she managed to keep her wits about her; when she lifted her head again, the world spinning dizzily, it was looming right over her, blacker than black and smelling of roses. No-decaying roses.

She only got to the second of the nine cuts before it hissed and struck at her again; she blocked its blow with her arm, which caused her such pain that she couldn't help but scream. She could tell instantly that, in the dream world at least, it had shattered at least one of the bones in her forearm, which was now oozing a substance that looked a lot like blood other than its charcoal color.

Maybe it was playing with her or maybe it was still wary of her; either way, it backed off ever so slightly. Through her haze of pain, Mai somehow forced herself to sit up straight and use her hands to form the seal of the Immovable One, which was a real struggle with her left arm barely able to move at all and throbbing excruciatingly. She began to chant as Monk had taught her, hoping that this would be at least a little bit effective; after all, she was backed into a corner that she didn't foresee getting out of unless the thing were weakened pretty significantly. Unable to look at the horror in front of her anymore, she squeezed her eyes tightly shut.

 _"Nau-Maku-San-Manda-Bazara-Dankan...Nau-Maku-San-Manda-Bazara-Dankan..."_

When she had gained enough courage to force open her eyes again, she breathed a stuttering sigh of relief; the thing had not moved a single inch from where it was, clearly struggling. Still chanting but glancing behind the spirit to check on her friends, she saw that they had opened some sort of secret door to a tiny crawlspace in the cellar; it was hard to tell from this distance, but she thought she saw Naru reach inside and pick something up.

The second he touched whatever was inside, the spirit thing gave a high-pitched screech and began writhing; it almost seemed to be in pain, but Mai couldn't understand why. Abandoning her completely, the thing spun about and headed towards her friends, still screaming as it went.

Mai cursed to herself as she followed it, still half-blinded by the white pain from her back and arm. At the speed it was going, it would reach the others before she did and attack them-she performed the nine cuts again as quickly as she could, but the thing barely staggered this time-

She forced herself to go faster, faster-but it wouldn't be enough-

She was still quite a bit behind when it reached them.

It hit Lin, who was carrying a large sack, first; the tall man's body crumpled instantly as his spirit was forced out of it. Dismayed, Mai saw him blinking and shaking his head in confusion.

She made her legs keep working. _Too slow._

The beast didn't bother to stop and attack his spirit, clearly only interested in disabling the physical bodies of those who had taken its treasure. The shikigami that were not currently guarding the base launched themselves at the thing in a flash of light, but it cleanly dodged them, this time attacking Naru, who was bent over his bodyguard.

Naru's spirit was thrown so far back that Mai was able to catch him; surprisingly heavy, he hit Mai's injured arm with such force that she whimpered and fell back, landing hard on her already sore back. Naru adjusted quickly to the situation, turning to check on Mai.

"Are you okay?"

Mai could only stare past him and at her remaining friends, who seemed to be unable to decide whether to grab the sack and keep moving forward or stop and grab the sleeping bodies of Naru and Lin. The two shiki, which had already failed to apprehend the thing once, danced around at a blinding speed, managing to ward it away from John, Masako, and Monk; it was obvious, however, that they were weakening every time they took a blow. John had begun to recite his verses, which caused the thing to back away a bit, but it didn't stop.

"Mai!"

Naru's intense voice and piercing eyes demanded her attention, and she shook her head, frustrated. "I couldn't keep its attention-as soon as you all touched whatever's in that sack, it forgot all about me-I-" She felt tears welling up in her eyes as she looked at him. "I'm so sorry-"

"Now's not the time for that," Naru said harshly, and Mai felt as though she had been stung. The words served their purpose, however, dragging her focus away from her failure and back to the situation at hand. "So that's the spirit? The smell-it's stronger this way, isn't it?" He furrowed his brow. "It makes a bit more sense now. What do we do, Mai?"

She was unable to process it for a moment. Capable, arrogant Naru was asking _Mai_ what they should do? Was this a practical joke?

Naru's tone became gentler, albeit still urgent. "Mai, I need you to focus."

Mai looked around, taking in the situation. Lin was still crouching near his body, giving orders to his shikigami, which were beginning to struggle in earnest; as she watched, the wildly thrashing spirit beast struck Lin's shoulder, and the man clenched his teeth in pain.

"We need to get you and Lin back to your bodies," Mai said hurriedly, painfully standing. Naru followed her lead, and the two rushed forward, not stopping when the thing screamed again above their heads.

"Get back, Naru," ordered Lin, also rising to his feet and clutching his shoulder.

Ignoring him, Naru and Mai grabbed an arm each and essentially threw Lin's spirit back into his body; the man blinked awake, his eyes widening in alarm at the sight of Naru still lying unconscious beside him.

Noticing one of its victims recovering, the thing made a horrible choking sound and careened toward Naru and Mai. The shiki, still weak and intent on protecting the others, did not follow it.

Naru moved to shield Mai with his own body, but as the beast raced closer and closer, she acted without thinking; she gave her friend a push, screaming, " _Go!"_ She barely had time to register the shock on Naru's face before his spirit was forcefully reunited with his body, and he coughed, regaining consciousness in Lin's protective arms.

Just as he woke up, the thing slammed into Mai at full speed; incapable of holding it in, she let out a cry as she was thrown backward. Judging by Naru's shout, she guessed that he'd probably heard her pained sound in his last instant in the astral plane, but she willed him to realize that the only course of action they had was to make it back to the base, where she could follow them. Even as she thought it, however, the menacing cloud of pressed down on her chest, smothering her. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move, she couldn't think-she felt some of her ribs crack-pain consumed her, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the others had made it back to the base-

Mai didn't even attempt the nine cuts or the Mantra of the Immovable One. It would be completely and utterly pointless at this point, while she was struggling not to let her spirit fade away. She couldn't tell anymore whether it hurt or whether it was numb. It had begun to just feel very hot and very cold at the same time.

 _At least I did something useful this time around._

Suddenly, the terrible weight on her chest lifted; in a daze, Mai realized that the thing had staggered back, its form shifting and quivering as if it were ill. She was confused for only a couple of moments before she saw the usual warm glow, accompanied by the familiar gentle smile.

"Hurry," Gene whispered, and she didn't hesitate; she bolted past it, Gene close behind. The thing still hadn't even regained its shape when Mai threw herself past the shikigami and through the wall, barely even registering her discomfort anymore. She saw Gene give her a slight nod and disappear through the wall to the outside.

"Thank you," she panted, but he was already gone.

The thing gave a shriek and started towards them again, and Mai, remembering the final part of her job, settled into her body. The second she came to, she shot upright and gasped, "It's coming. Close it out."

Since the seals were all ready to go, it took only a couple of seconds for Ayako and Lin to slap them on the wall. Outside, the thing was desperately throwing its form against the wall, but it couldn't break through the barrier; Monk was reinforcing the protection, too, and it gave off a gentle golden glow.

There was a collective sigh of relief as everyone realized that all of them had made it back safely. Ayako was already tending to Lin's shoulder, and Monk and John hurried over to inspect Mai. Surprisingly, Naru followed them, looking to be in an even worse mood than usual again.

As Monk touched her, Mai let out an involuntary yelp; the pain that she'd experienced during her period of astral projection remained, although she felt now that she could move her injured arm freely. It felt somewhat like she'd been run over by a moderately sized truck.

"I'll be as gentle as I can, but I need you to hold still," Monk said soothingly, and inspected her forearm, chest, and back. All three of them were covered in blotchy bruises and radiated heat, and all of them hurt so badly that Mai couldn't think clearly, but there seemed to be no broken bones or other serious injuries.

"You should lie down," advised John. "You're really pale, Mai."

Nodding blankly, Mai allowed Monk to gently lower her onto the floor. Her head was propped up by Monk's jacket, and her body kept warm by John's. Monk tiredly sat down beside her, no doubt beginning to feel the draining effects of the barrier he was maintaining, and Naru sat on her other side, looking rather sulky.

"You're an idiot," he informed her.

Mai didn't have enough energy to argue with him. Besides, he was probably just angry that she'd behaved so rashly.

"You don't know how to be careful, do you?" Naru continued, refusing to look directly at her. "You were even more stupid than you usually are. I should fire you."

That ticked off Mai enough that she felt just enough of her energy and focus return to glare at him. "That's not-fair, Naru-" She gained strength with every word as her rage accumulated. "I made it back-right? Don't-" She sat back up abruptly, making herself dizzy, and pointed a finger directly into his face. "- _call me stupid_."

In the second before a worried Monk mothered her into lying down again, she could have sworn she saw Naru's lip twitch a little. Then again, she was pretty out of it, so there was no telling whether she was just imagining things.


	6. Chapter 6

It was still dark when Mai fell asleep, and by then, Monk and Naru were the only others still awake. Luckily, she didn't have one of her usual dreams this time; instead, she dreamed that she was walking through a garden, a faceless person beside her smiling gently. She couldn't tell their gender, but whoever it was handed her a lovely bouquet of roses, and she took in the scent deeply.

The rest of the dream was simply a pleasant stroll through the garden, ending in a kiss from the other individual by a pristine fountain. Every once in a while, the dream would be broken by disturbing flashes: being trapped in a dark space; a smothering, airless, compressed feeling; screamed abuses ringing in her ears; the feeling of the prick of a rose's thorns on her skin. These little feelings and images soon passed each time, however, and it was easy to forget about them when the lovely sounds and sights of the garden returned.

She woke easily and peacefully, but feeling as if she were forgetting something important.

"Good morning, Mai," Monk said from beside her, startling her a bit.

"Have you been up this entire time?" yawned Mai, sitting up and stretching. Her entire body was still sore, but after her rest, it felt much better.

"I figured it was safest to maintain the barrier until morning, especially since Lin's shikigami were resting," Monk explained. "I only released it a few minutes ago, when the sun came up."

Mai scoped the room quickly, and saw that everyone else-even Naru-was still sound asleep. "You should get some sleep too, Monk. That was a pretty long night. Everyone else got a few hours of sleep after that whole thing, at least."

Monk shook his head, grinning at her in his usual comforting way and raising a hand to ruffle her hair. "Don't worry about it. This case is almost over, and then-" He used his free hand to bop her on the nose playfully. "I'll sleep for an entire day!"

Mai knew that he was probably exhausted and just trying to make her feel better, but she couldn't help smiling back at him. Monk's light and cheerful attitude never failed to brighten up her day and make her laugh.

Their voices stirred Ayako and Masako, both of whom rose sleepily. "How are you feeling, Mai?" groaned Ayako, who did not look pleased to be awake. "We were all really worried last night." Masako made a small noise of protest, but that wasn't fooling anyone.

Mai nodded brightly, her spirits returning to her with Monk's affection and Ayako's concern. "I'm feeling much better. I just tripped a couple of times, that's all."

Masako glared at her. "How many times did you let that thing catch you? Your bruises are all giving off a sour spiritual energy."

Mai felt her face turn red in embarrassment. "It was fast, okay? I didn't _let it catch me_ , it just-"

"Well, I'm just glad you weren't hurt too badly," Ayako said, sounding much more awake now and coming to fuss over her. "I didn't know if you'd be able to pull it off or not. That thing's pretty scary. You did it, though." She gave Mai a sincere smile. "We're all very proud of you, Mai."

Mai tried-and failed-not to blush, feeling rather pleased with herself at Ayako's words. They did think she was useful, after all.

With what seemed like an enormous amount of effort, John forced himself upright as well. "Good morning, everyone. Mai, how-?"

"I'm fine," she told him reassuringly. "No worries."

John exhaled slowly. "I'm glad. I had nightmares about that demon chasing us all night long. It must have been pretty terrifying."

The truth was that it was more frightening than anything Mai had experienced before, but she told him, "It wasn't that bad. Anyway, I'm just happy that it worked out in the end. The thing should have returned to the cellar during the day, right? We should be safe now."

"I don't know about that," Masako said in her normal quiet manner, and pointed to the door. "It's still outside. Its presence is definitely weaker, but it hasn't left. It is concerned enough with what we obtained last night that it's willing to brave the sunlight."

Ayako gave them a satisfied look. "Hopefully, that means it will follow us out to the grove of trees. That would make my job a lot easier."

"If it's weakened considerably by the sunlight, we should be able to make the journey there safely enough using my shiki," Lin added, causing John to jump with a small squeak of surprise. Mai, who hadn't even noticed that he was awake, was also a bit startled.

"That reminds me," she said. "What did you guys even find last night? I hope it was worth it."

Lin stood, moving and rotating his affected shoulder experimentally. Evidently determining that it was not worth worrying about, he responded, "It's a body."

There was dead silence in the room.

"A…" Mai, being the only one besides Ayako who had not accompanied everyone else to the cellar, was at a loss. "A body? An actual body?" Why was no one else reacting to this information?

"Well, it's just bones now," Monk corrected Lin, giving his coworker a stern glance for his tactlessness. "Don't worry, Mai. We think that the spirit is just trying to guard its remains."

"That spirit was a human once?" Ayako shuddered. "How on earth did it get so twisted?"

This time, both Mai and John jumped as Naru unexpectedly spoke up, his voice lackluster and tired.

"It was holed up in a hidden crawl space," he said dully. "Everything was completely decayed, but from the scent we caught upon opening the door, it would seem that they had a bouquet of roses stuffed in there with them. It would appear that they were the victim of a violent crime, and being sealed in that place for so long with all that rage undoubtedly twisted their spirit."

"That's gross," Mai squeaked, scooting a little farther away from the sack, although it was already in the opposite corner of the room.

"Can't we just dispose of the bones somehow, then? Burn them, maybe? Or John can exorcise them?" Monk suggested hopefully. "Then we don't have to leave this room until it's gone."

Naru shot the idea down instantly. "I sincerely doubt that the spirit is being held here purely by the bones. It is too strong to depend too heavily on something physical like these. It is certainly attached to them and guards them, but I don't think that destroying these would kill it, and exorcising them wouldn't do much good, as it's not possessing them. Using them as bait to draw the spirit itself out makes the most sense right now. If we try and fail to kill it by destroying these, we will lose them as a way to force it to follow us and expose itself. As we don't have a plan to account for that likelihood, experimenting is unwise."

Ayako stretched, moving to get her bag. "I'll get ready, in that case. I'm sure my exorcism will do away with it, no problem."

"As much as I enjoy disagreeing with Ms. Matsuzaki, I believe that she is correct here," Masako said grudgingly. "It will be greatly weakened by the sunlight already, and it shouldn't stand much of a chance against the tree spirits."

"That settles it, then," Ayako determined confidently. She slipped on her pristine robes over her clothes, then started to put up her hair. "I must look the part, you know. You all get ready, too."

Mai thought she detected a hint of annoyance in Naru's face at being made to take orders from Ayako, but it was true that they needed to make sure they had all the necessities before they dared to open that door.

"We're operating under the assumption that this thing will follow us outside to pursue us," Naru briefed them. "Lin's shiki have recovered enough to shield us at least until Miss Matsuzaki can begin her ceremony. However, everyone needs to stay close together. If anyone steps outside of the protection of the shikigami, there will be very real danger. Don't make us send Mai after you; she had a hard enough time last night." He narrowed his eyes dangerously, and Mai felt a strange rush in her chest that she couldn't quite identify at his apparent concern. "Only because she's not very bright, of course."

The unknown feeling turned into indignation.

"I'm going to release the shiki when Ayako starts," Lin told them. "Make sure that you are not alone. Hopefully the thing's attention will be drawn to Ayako and the bones, but be ready to defend yourselves."

It took only a few more minutes before Ayako was ready. Lin called his shikigami with his usual sharp whistle, and as the entire group held their breath, Naru pushed open the door.

There was an instant blast of cold air, but, Naru in the lead, the members of Shibuya Psychic Research ignored it. They continued on, each person looking braver than the last, but Mai was sure that Ayako at least was just as nervous as she was.

Not being able to see the spirit freaked Mai out; with her spiritual perception, she could see it flash by out of the corner of her eye a few times, and smell its rotten, floral stench when it passed by her, but she could never quite make it out clearly. It gave her a feeling similar to that of going down a staircase in complete darkness, unable to tell when the bottom floor might arrive and cause her to trip.

When they stepped into the bright sunlight outside, Mai lost sight of the shiki, whose glow had been outshined, but she knew that they were still there. In a low voice, Naru asked, "Miss Hara, is it still following?"

Masako concentrated for a moment before answering. "It's hesitant, but-yes."

Naru responded with only a nod, and they continued with bated breath.

It took them about exactly fifteen minutes to reach their destination, a beautiful grove of trees. It was hard to concentrate on the very present problem here; the leaves rustled softly, stirred by a whispering breeze and dappling the ground in the sunlight. Mai felt invigorated just being here; even the air smelled fresh and clean. She saw that Ayako, too, was taking it all in, letting it swell her chest and feed her body and mind.

It took Masako's whisper to bring them back to the task at hand. "It's here, but it seems skittish. It would certainly be running if not for the bones."

Ayako nodded, breathing out deeply; the priestess revealed the humble, green branch, her little bell dangling loosely from its top. She carefully planted it in the dirt. Reverently, she put her hands together; she closed her eyes, tilting back her head.

Mai loved watching Ayako work in this environment, where the powers of the trees dwelled. The shrine maiden was completely different here, where she actually felt strong and confident. Every mannerism was changed, and Mai enjoyed seeing this side of her. She had an unearthly beauty to her, standing there amidst the thriving life of the trees she so respected and cherished.

" _I stand here today to beseech the gods,"_ Ayako began, and Mai felt a chilling rush of air as Lin released his shikigami. She thought she could hear the distant echo of the spirit shrieking; she felt it behind her for a mere instant, but Lin threw the sack containing the bones on the ground several feet away from them, and the presence receded. No doubt it was standing guard over its precious bones; for the moment, it didn't seem to want to bother with them, taking a protective stance instead.

Ayako continued unwaveringly, her gentle voice washing over the tired, tense group like pure spring water. " _I call upon them to descend from the heavens and join us where no gods dwell, to end this ceaseless suffering."_ A new, stronger breeze whipped through the branches overhead, and Mai swore she could hear the faint resonance of many voices. " _I ask that my humble plea may be heard, that peace be restored unto the spirits who are trapped in this haunted place. May this grove reflect the high, heavenly plain, and may the gods from all corners come together as one."_ The air became warmer, lighter; the sunlight seemed almost tangible, as if Mai could touch it if she stretched far enough. The air gently stirred Ayako's bell, making a subdued but pure ringing noise.

Moving her hands in graceful rhythm, Ayako recited, " _Rin. Pyo. To. Sha. Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen."_ Her voice was cool and held none of the panic that Mai generally felt when she was forced to repeat the words.

This part was Mai's favorite; it was time for the spirits of the trees to show themselves. These trees were much younger than the ones that Ayako had previously used; the pure light that they radiated was soft and white, and when they disappeared silently into the earth, they were as water trickling down into a stream.

Nothing happened for a long, long minute; then, out of nowhere, the spirit became visible to all of them. John, who had not yet seen the spirit, gaped at it for a moment before regaining his composure; the rest of them stared at it grimly, waiting for Ayako to make the next move.

Ayako bent slowly and very carefully uprooted the branch; holding it delicately in her hands, she shook it gently, creating a resonant and clean ring that echoed throughout the entire grove. The sound was pleasing and calming to Mai's ears, and she truly relaxed for the first time since her original dream in the house.

The spirit, however, only wavered slightly; wondering if it was perhaps too strong for Ayako to handle, Mai watched. Other spirits had appeared as well. After all, any unclean spirits in the general vicinity would feel and hear Ayako's ceremony, and circulated toward her naturally to be cleansed and put to rest. The evil spirit, wavering though it might be, was being slowly drawn closer to Ayako as well.

Ayako didn't falter once; collected and sure of herself, she rang the bell again and again, creating the same, evenly-pitched sound every time. The other spirits vanished instantly, but the malice-filled dream spirit was barely maintaining its form, becoming so unsteady that pieces of its dark cloud began to break off and dissipate into the air.

Opening her eyes, Ayako looked directly at the vile thing and gave one last swing of the branch, creating a final bell tone. At that, the spirit dissolved into mist and was gone.

The air had lost all of its frigidness and stiffness, and Mai knew that it was truly over now. Ayako, who sensed this as well, placed the branch respectfully back in the soil, and clapped her hands together. The thread that connected the bell to the branch unravelled elegantly and fell to the ground. There was a solid moment's silence before there was a collective sigh from the group, and there was a palpable release of unspoken tension between them all.

"So that's it?" Monk ventured cautiously. "Are we done?"

Ayako beamed, but Naru begged to differ. "We still have to have Miss Hara re-check the house, and we should bury the bones. We can't just leave them here; it would be rude, among other things."

"Monk and I can cover that," John offered brightly. "I'll purify them while we're at it, too, just to be safe."

Naru seemed to accept this plan. "Miss Hara and Miss Matsuzaki will do a final sweep of the entire house, then, focusing in particular on the cellar. If there is _any_ discrepancy, we'll need to check it out. Lin, Mai, and I will start packing up under the assumption that these checks will be uneventful." Naru waited for a couple of seconds, and when the others continued to simply stare at him, he rolled his eyes impatiently. "We don't have all day. Go."


	7. Chapter 7

Mai could tell that they had nothing more to worry about as they packed up; it was warm and smelled of old wood and dust bunnies in the huge house, and she felt incredibly at ease, once again able to admire the architecture and annoy Lin while they picked up all of the cameras. Her body was still sore, but the incredible, constant terror was long gone.

Naru and Lin were as silent and tense as before, but Mai bothered them with her bubbly energy anyway. The three had managed to pack up everything by the time that Masako, Ayako, Monk, and John returned; as much as they'd like to, everyone was too tired to celebrate, and while Monk drove Masako, Ayako, and John home, Lin took Naru and Mai.

Rather than going home, Naru, his bodyguard, and his assistant went to the Shibuya Psychic Research office in order to finish up some paperwork for the case. It was a long drive back, so it was nearly sunset when they arrived. Mai made them both tea, and while she knew he'd never admit it, it was fairly obvious that Naru was completely enervated; his normally sharp and precise movements had become a bit sluggish, and he frequently had to stop and blink at the sheets of paper in front of him to process what he was reading. Mai watched this for close to a half hour before she gave an exasperated sigh.

"Naru, you need to sleep," she advised sternly, her hands on her small hips. Naru turned slowly to glare at her, but before he could protest, Lin spoke up.

"She's right," he said. "Come on. I will finish these papers up once you are in bed."

"I'm fine," Naru maintained flatly.

"You hardly slept!" Mai protested, her voice rising steadily in aggravation. "Stop being so stubborn, Naru!"

He looked as though he wanted to keep arguing, but under the combined disapproving faces of Lin and Mai, he gave in with a long exhalation.

"Fine. Mai, you need to go home as well." The dark-haired boy paused for a moment, and then continued, "Let's go."

"Oh, I'll just take the bus and then walk the rest of the way," Mai told him. That _was_ what she always did, after all. She found it a little odd that he'd suddenly want to take her home, as he hadn't offered to do it before.

"I'm your boss. Don't argue with me," Naru instructed tiredly. "Now let's go."

Mai couldn't honestly say that she minded him accompanying her, although she was a bit confused and concerned about how fatigued he looked. Lin also looked hesitant, but apparently deciding that it wasn't worth arguing about, he let them go.

The bus ride was a quiet and awkward one for Mai; she wanted to try to read his face, but she didn't want to stare. She wanted to say something, but she never knew how to begin, since he generally wasn't overly fascinated by normal topics of conversation. As far as she could tell, he seemed to have regained his alertness by moving around, but was unenthused as ever.

By the time the bus stopped a few blocks away from her building, it was dark except for the dim light of the moon; crickets were already chirping in the dead silence, although they quieted as Naru and Mai walked by. Mai attempted several times-unsuccessfully-to start a conversation, but Naru wouldn't bite.

 _Why did he come along if he's just going to sulk silently?_

When Mai had finally stopped trying to speak to him, still a few blocks away from her place, Naru spoke up.

"How are your injuries?"

His voice was low and kind of grouchy, but Mai blushed at his words. She didn't know why, of course-feeling rather flustered and frustrated with herself, she responded as evenly as she could. "It's really nothing. I think injuries obtained by your spirit don't affect your real body too badly. We all just ended up with nasty bruises." Try as she might to speak normally, her voice sounded oddly pitched even to her.

Naru went silent again, not looking at her. Just when Mai had again resigned herself to quietude, he abruptly continued. "You did well." Mai glanced up at him, but he was looking straight ahead, as if trying to avoid her searching eyes. "Everyone ended up safe, so good job." He paused, and finally met Mai's gaze, his tone lightening a bit. "You know, for someone so stupid."

"Is that why you came with me?" Mai responded mischievously, grinning now. "Because you can't admit I did something right in front of the others?"

"I came along," Naru told her, "because with your- _special_ skill set, I assumed you'd fall on your injuries and pass out again."

Mai couldn't help giggling a little at this. "Aw, Naru. You _do_ care."

Naru turned his nose up at her. "Actually, I figured it would be a source of amusement, were I here to watch. Also, if you were to disappear, I doubt I'd be able to connive another assistant into accepting as little pay as you do. You're quite cheap."

"Gee, thanks."

Naru's face became very serious again, and he tilted his head, his bangs momentarily covering his eyes. "You really need to be more careful in the future." Another heavy pause. "You shouldn't have shoved me out of the way."

There was an odd tension between them; as they passed another house, a small dog began to yip annoyingly at them, and Mai found herself fighting the spread of heat in her face again. To combat this, she gave an unnaturally loud, fake laugh. "Well, if you weren't so _useless_ as a spirit, I wouldn't have to save you. Plus, pushing you was fun. You had it coming."

To her dismay, Naru did not look amused at her awkward joke; instead, Mai got the distinct impression that he was offended. Knowing anything she said now would probably just make it worse, she shut up.

At long last, they reached Mai's place; he walked her to the door, still obviously grumpy and tired. Despite the weird ups and downs of their conversation, Mai felt a strange, happy glow in her stomach. When she smiled at him, it was sincere and with as much warmth as she could muster.

"Thanks for walking me home, Naru. Make sure not to fall asleep on your feet on the way back."

"Don't worry," he retorted. "I'm not as clumsy as you. I won't randomly fall over."

"Well, see you tomorrow!" Mai said brightly, ignoring the insult. Naru wordlessly turned around, but before he'd taken a single step, he hesitantly turned back.

Mai could only stare back as he looked at her, and although his facial expression was as even and indiscernible as ever, she thought she saw something moving behind his eyes. After a solid three seconds of charged silence, he reached into his pocket, taking her hand with his free one simultaneously.

Mai felt rather as if she were going to explode. Her face was undeniably hot now, and she had to repress the hyper squeak that threatened to rise from her throat. It was difficult, feeling so excited and emotional like this while also trying to figure out what the hell Naru _-_ stiff, humorless Naru-was acting like this for.

Before she could have another confused thought, he placed her pebble in her hand, then withdrew quickly. He raised a hand in farewell, and mere moments later, he had disappeared again into the darkness, hidden by his simple black clothing as he left.

Mai sat down on the pavement, her heart still thundering in her chest. He'd kept the stupid little pebble, the one that she would have immediately discarded were it not for the fact that Naru had given it back twice now. Unable to determine whether Naru was actually feeling something like this emotion that he'd given her so easily or whether he was just being infuriatingly unaware of the impact he had on her yet again-or, worse, if he was just messing with her-she rolled the pebble over and over in her hand.

It was still warm.


End file.
